Since NASA began to explore the surface of Mars, scientists proposed that it can be the next place where humans can live. Mars Direct, a cost-efficient manned mission to Mars, was proposed in the  1980s.

Mars Direct is planned to be launched in stages and has two modules. The first stage is the Earth Return Vehicle or ERV, which will be the one to convert the carbon dioxide that is present in Mars' thin atmosphere into propellants that will contain oxygen and methane. This will make the launching of a craft from Mars possible. The second module is Mars Habitat Unit.

Why Mars and not Venus?

Since Venus is closer to the Earth, some people ask, why not choose Venus as the next destination instead? Mars proponents say no, because of the fact that Venus has sulfuric acid as its primary atmosphere. In other words, it is a hostile planet with a surface temperature of 855 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes Mars our next possible destination.

Further, Mars can be reached at an average of 6 months. In addition, when Earth passes Mars, which is when they are closest to each other. With the fact that Earth passes across the sun and is closer than Mars, it ill have a shorter route. Every 26 months, the Earth passes Mars about 26 months.

The possibility of the next probable destination depends in the nearness of the two planets. In addition, it also has something to do with the mass of both planets. The Earth is the 5^th largest while Mars the 7^th. This makes their size relatively close to each other.

Geography and astronomical features

Mars, like Earth has its own geography. One of such features is the Olympus Mons. With a height of 24 kilometers, it is the largest mountain in the solar system. It also has Valles Marineris which is a series of canyons with the length of 4000 kilometers. It also has a bulgy terrain known as Tharsis. It runs 4000 kilometers across and has a height of 10 kilometers.

One year in Mars is equivalent to two long years in Earth or 687 days. That is because it has a farther distance from the sun. In one day, Mars has 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds, which almost makes it the same as that of Earth. It also has seasons but lasts twice as that of Earth because it has a year longer than ours.

The challenges posed of such a travel

There are of course challenges that we have to go through, such as the surface temperature. Mars' temperature drops at about -133 degrees Centigrade and rises at about 27 degrees Centigrade. It has -55 degrees Centigrade as its average temperature.

If the Earth has a magnetic field, Mars does not have any. This means that solar winds can cause the erosion of its atmosphere. This explains Mars' thin atmosphere which is composed of 95.3 percent carbon dioxide, 2.7 percent Nitrogen and 1.6 percent Argon with small traces of water and oxygen. Further, astronauts have to be sheltered from the atmosphere as it has an air pressure of less than 1 percent compared on Earth.

With a thin atmosphere and low air pressure, this makes the existence of water on the surface almost nil. But it was discovered that it has polar ice caps. This can be a resource of water in the planet. But, how to melt this repository has to be known first, which just adds to the challenge.

But space explorations has its own risks--but equated with its own rewards. And if it has something to do with the next possible destination, such a risk is worth it.